FILE - Former Exxon Valdez Capt. Joseph Hazelwood is surrounded by reporters as he leaves his re-licensing hearing in Long Beach, Calif., on July 25, 1990.

In 1994, a federal jury found recklessness by Exxon and the captain of the Exxon Valdez, Joseph Hazelwood, who caused the tanker to run aground. That finding made Exxon liable for punitive damages.

A jury in Anchorage sided with the plaintiffs in 1994, awarding them $5 billion in punitive damages from Exxon and $5,000 from Hazelwood, on top of $287 million in compensatory damages.

FILE - Former Exxon Valdez Capt. Joseph Hazelwood is surrounded by reporters as he leaves his re-licensing hearing in Long Beach, Calif., on July 25, 1990.

FILE - Fired Exxon Valdez skipper Joseph Hazelwood, right, sits with his lawyer Michael Chalos as a photograph of the tanker is displayed on an easel in Anchorage Superior Court, March 20, 1990.

FILE - Former Exxon Valdez Capt. Joseph Hazelwood is surrounded by reporters as he leaves his re-licensing hearing in Long Beach, Calif., on July 25, 1990.

FILE - Former Exxon Valdez Capt. Joseph Hazelwood is surrounded by reporters as he leaves his re-licensing hearing in Long Beach, Calif., on July 25, 1990.

FILE - Former Exxon Valdez Capt. Joseph Hazelwood is surrounded by reporters as he leaves his re-licensing hearing in Long Beach, Calif., on July 25, 1990.